Andre Onana was caught up in a near-violent outburst with his teammate and former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko in Champions League round of 16 win over Porto.
After a dragging 86 minutes of play, Inter Milan finally had the better of Porto at the San Siro with a narrow 1-0 win.
The Serie A outfit needed the ingenuity of Chelsea loanee and Belgium international Romelu Lukaku to nail a win against the hard-fighting Portuguese giants.
Inter Milan dominated play and held a commanding presence in Porto’s half, especially in the last 10 minutes of play.
They had 57% of the ball, and fired 18 attempts with only 4 on target. Porto managed 10 attempts with 4 on target but could not charge upfield as much as their opponents.
They ended up defending for most of the game and finally conceded late in the 86th minute after a callous defending; Romelu Lukaku’s header bounced off of the woodwork, and Porto defenders left the Belgian to race again to the ball and slot home the winner.
Inter Milan’s display at the San Siro was clinical, but the game was marred with another on-pitch bust-up that nearly ground the game to a temporary halt.
Former Cameroon International and Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana was captured in viral footage furiously engaging Edin Dzeko in a war of words in the second half.
Onana flared up after Edin Dzeko seemed to have told him to get on after a faux pass that compounded the woes of the team when the match was still goalless.
Onana had protested with the referee, but it appears Edin Dzeko did not share the sentiments of the Cameroonian, asking him to keep quiet and move on with the game.
Onana then screamed at the Boznian and Herzegovina forward, seeming to tell him to ‘shut up’ in fury.
Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu intervened and placed his hand on Onana’s mouth seeming to tell him to back off.
Meanwhile, Edin Dzeko had walked away disgruntled as Onana raged on.
However, speaking to Skysport Italia after the game, Andre Onana seemed to have played down the faceoff with Dzeko, attributing it to uncontrolled adrenaline which also powers the team and players to win games.
He added the victory over Porto was the most important as the team secured a crucial advantage going into the second leg in Portugal.
“These things happen in the game, everyone has a right to think what they want. If the adrenaline that makes us angry also helps us to win games the way we did tonight, then it’s welcome!’ Onana told Sky Sport Italia.
While Andre Onana has played down the bust-up, a similar on-pitch duel was also recorded just over a week ago by the club in a Serie A game against Sampdoria.
Inter Milan had struggled in front of goal against Sampdoria before the frustration spilled into a near-violent bust-up between Romelu Lukaku and Nicolo Barella.
As the goal deadlock against Sampdoria lingered, Barella had thrown his hand up in the air in frustration after Romelu Lukaku gave the ball away cheaply.
A furious Lukaku then shouted at Barella saying, “Don’t do that, enough with these arms! Do not do that! It’s not good, it’s insulting, now stop!”
Barella also shouted at Lukaku before the Belgian then ended his angry outburst with a sour remark, “F* you, son of a b*h.”
After the incident, Inter Milan’s manager Raul Inzaghi criticized both players, expressing his concerns about such obscene scenarios which is unbecoming of the players.
Inter Milan reportedly investigated the angry outburst between the two players and failed to mete out any punishment.
It is still unclear whether this recent repeat of the scenario in the Champions League will go unpunished.
What is your thought on these incessant on-pitch clashes between Inter Milan players?
